Move and win roundup: Week of March 1, 2021

Dave Rolfe has been appointed to the new role of global head of production, WPP and Hogarth. Rolfe who was recently head of production for global business marketing at Facebook, will be based in Hogarth Worldwide, WPP’s creative production arm. He joins in March, reporting to WPP’s incoming global chief creative officer, Rob Reilly, and Hogarth CEO Richard Glasson. Rolfe is tasked with attracting top talent and building a production community that offers integrated solutions for clients. Rolfe will also oversee production at Hogarth. Rolfe's joins other top management appointments made by WPP CEO Mark Read including Reilly and Devika Bulchandani, CEO of Ogilvy North America.

Havas Group promoted Simone Gupta, previously CEO of One Green Bean, to a newly created role as CEO of Havas PR Australia, responsible for both Red Havas and One Green Bean. She will work with Steve Fontanot, MD of Red Havas, to strengthen and the communications group, which has specialties in consumer brands, automotive, travel/lifestyle/leisure, health and technology/business.

Effie Asia Pacific announced Annette Male, APAC CEO of Wunderman Thompson, and Christina Lu, head of marketing at AliExpress, as heads of jury for the APAC Effie Awards 2021. The remaining Heads of Jury will be introduced in the coming weeks, and the first group of jurors has been announced. See www.apaceffie.com for details.

Essence has been appointed as footwear brand Crocs’ integrated media agency of record in China. Led from Essence’s Shanghai office, the agency’s remit will include strategy, media planning, media activation and content innovation for Crocs’ digital and offline brand and performance marketing campaigns.

Procter & Gamble chief brand officer Marc Pritchard has been named WFA Global Marketer of the Year 2020. He was awarded this honour following a combined vote from an expert jury and the industry at large including WFA members, with each accounting for a half of the final score. The other finalists were Andrew Garrihy of Huawei, Fernando Machado of Restaurant Brands International (Burger King), Lisa McKnight of Mattel (Barbie), Ivan Pollard of General Mills and Jane Wakely of Mars.

MASH has appointed former VICE Asia Pacific creative director Royce Akers as its first operating partner. Akers is the first APAC partner within a number of specialist operating partners MASH is appointing to complement its pool of referral only creative, digital, strategic and marketing experts.

Criteo, an adtech firm specialising in retargeting, has tied up MediaDonuts, an online advertising and technology company in Vietnam. This partnership will provide a platform for Criteo to cover broader market segments in this fast-growing country.  Criteo is growing in Vietnam through its Ad Sales Partner Program with MediaDonuts. It provides performance marketing solutions which include full funnel marketing solutions aimed at driving profits and sales for retailers and brands. 

Publicis Groupe promoted Heidi Zhang as chief strategy officer of Publicis Communications China, to lead the integration of all creative agencies under Publicis Communications China. Zhang, recognised as one of Campaign's Women to Watch Greater China 2021, joined Publicis Groupe China in 2010 and has been leading strategy planning in Publicis Communications China and Saatchi & Saatchi China previously. The Groupe also promoted Sandy Wu from general manager to managing director of Saatchi & Saatchi Shanghai.

Location technology platform Foursquare appointed Tim Castle as its regional head for Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, effective from January. Castle will be based in Singapore and work closely with brands, agencies and advertisers in this region to further the expansion of Foursquare across Southeast Asia. Castle’s career has spanned multiple regional hubs, including the UK and Australia, where he led new business initiatives at Group M, AOL (later Verizon Media), and most recently at Playground XYZ, where he was responsible for expanding the business’ media and measurement solution into new markets across Asia.

OMD Melbourne has won the media contract from The Victorian Government worth around $100 million. OMD wrests the contract from MediaCom, while Zenith was also part of the pitch. OMD's appointment is effective from 1 June. 

Cancer Council NSW has appointed Archibald Williams after a three-way pitch to help the Australian cancer charity create an overarching customer experience strategy to increase supporter engagement and loyalty. The strategy will transition the organisation from a ‘campaign/product first’ approach to fundraising to a ‘supporter first’ approach which seeks to prioritise the needs of supporters and their lifetime value. 

The Hallway, an independent agency in Australia, has appointed Iain MacMillan as creative director of its Melbourne office following recent business wins and client growth. MacMillan, who has worked at some of Australasia's most high profile agencies has plied his trade at creative agencies on both sides of the Tasman. He joins The Hallway after a recent stint at CHE Proximity Melbourne.

Supahands, a data labeling partner for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence companies, has been selected by Carousell, a classifieds marketplace, to improve its customer shopping experience. Carousell will use Supahands to evaluate the search relevance algorithms for its Machine Learning models to further enhance the search and recommendation functions on the Carousell platform.

Edelman has appointed Neeraj Khanna as head of marketing for its agency network in Asia-Pacific. In his role, Khanna will lead the network's regional marketing strategy, reporting into Bob Grove, chief client and operating officer at Edelman APAC. Khanna joins Edelman from Omnicom Media Group where he served in a similar capacity for 6.5 years, in both the MENA and APAC regions.

Singapore-based pop culture marketing agency Culture Group has appointed former Dentsu global CEO of Content & Creative, Dick van Motman, as chairman of its advisory board. Van Motman brings 30 years of experience in building brands and businesses globally , is an active investor and advisor and is in the process of setting up a soon-to-be announced consulting and investment group focused on accelerating the growth of disruptive businesses in emerging industries. In his role, van Motman will advise on market entry and development, mergers & acquisitions and executive mentorship.

Grey Group has appointed Sharlene Wu as the CEO of Grey Group China. Most recently CEO of Proximity China, Wu will lead Grey Advertising and is responsible for the integration of Grey DPI, Grey Star Echo and Grey Easycom, Campaign can reveal. She replaces Jeff Kwek, whose stint lasted only 18 months. See full story.

UM Australia has named Anathea Ruys as CEO to replace Fiona Johnston, who was promoted to an international role as chief growth officer, Mediabrands, Global/EMEA. Ruys is currently executive vice president and managing director of Carat West Coast and Mid-West USA, as well as the lead of Dentsu’s West Coast office and will begin her new role in April. See full story.

MediaMonks has hired Joao Flores as ECD in SEA, Korea and Japan. Based in Singapore, his responsibilities are to develop creative partnerships with MediaMonks’ clients, influence teams across the region with a growth mindset and elevate standards for creativity. See full story. 

Content marketing agency IMMedia has appointed Orion Ray-Jones as the new head of editorial, responsible for a global editorial team and the roll out of the agency's “IMMediate” content platform  whilst providing client support.  Orion has more than 20 years of experience that includes serving as editorial director at travel media company INK , creating content at Bangkok-based agency QUO, and other positions.